The Beholder
by Limxuxu09
Summary: Yes, she is the daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson. Yes, she is a descendant of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and Poseidon, the god of the sea. But there's more to her than meets the eye. And the one she meets knows that. Only, is meeting him a blessing or a curse? Don't want to divulge too much but please do read on to understand the plot :
1. Finally

Here is my very first fan fiction from the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I do hope you guys would find the time to read it and let me know if it's any good by reviewing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this except for the protagonist who happened to be created by my own imagination as well as the plot. I am merely divulging into the Olympian world of Rick Riordan's.**

…

_Peace, _she sighed, letting herself be overcame by the calmness.

Standing with such poise, she slowly spread out her hands with her palms facing upward. Her hair of golden swayed along with the playful breeze. Her concealed yet taking in everything that her senses can grasp. The swish of the wind went along with the disposition, as if whispering to her ears, its touch as if caressing her body. The chirping of the birds passing by, even the faraway noise from the city down below suppressed her.

But somehow, the lone girl had shut off the outside world, hearing nothing but her own deep breaths, feeling nothing but her own heartbeat, just the way she liked it. If only she could fly and forget all her troubles… Maybe she can. No one can stop her now.

With the graceful move of a ballerina, she deliberately raised her heels, tiptoeing, about to let the air carry her.

Out of sudden, there came a flapping sound.

A small smile formed on her face. She had been expecting this.

"I didn't think you'd come this early," she murmured.

There was no response; nothing but the familiar fluttering.

She laughed, relaxing her stance while gradually dropping her arms. Pausing for a moment, the girl opened her eyes. Nevertheless, her vision filled with the same darkness. Only an almost blinding aura in the shape of a man crossed her sight. A light that can only be emitted by an immortal, situated just a few inches from her. But in her dreams, she knew every part of this being.

"It's funny, isn't it?" she laughed softly. "Who is that girl who was named after Atalanta, the great huntress, leaving her own mark in the history of the Ancient Greek? Who is she whose parents are Annabeth and Percy Jackson, two of the greatest heroes of all time? That girl who's also a descendant of Athena, goddess of wisdom and Poseidon, god of the sea, the very girl to lookout for, what can she do? Who can she become?"

A gust swept over, turning the warm and tranquil atmosphere to cold and apprehensive. The other creatures seemed to have inferred the abrupt change and quickly dispersed from the area.

"Much to everyone's disbelief, this girl had been nothing but disappointment," she added. "I, Atalanta, am not only born a blind but do not seem to have inherited any of my parents' abilities. I am not wise and tactical like my mother nor can I control the water like my father."

Atalanta protectively wrapped her arms around her stomach, cradling it. "Then again, no one would believe that what lives inside me is actually the child of death. No one would expect for that to happen. Am I right, Thanatos?"

The aura remained unmoved. Only the fluttering sound could be heard, proving the presence of the god.

"The one who reaps the souls would only care about doing his job. Would he care if it would be his son who he'd bring to the underworld? Would it matter?"

"Of course being a god, I'm sure you would know how a blind woman was able to climb the tallest building in New York. Who would imagine that the unborn would have wings and could even fly and carry me… on my own deathbed? Such a strange similarity to his own father. The strong desire to experience death even for his own mother?"

"Hmmm," Thanatos hummed thoughtfully.

The sound of his deep voice made Atalanta's heartbeat quicken. Even with her strongest attempt to appear indifferent, she knew the god would not be fooled. Somehow, she recovered.

"Truly this is what you want?" she challenged.

"I can never want anything," Thanatos replied with emotionless voice. "Death doesn't choose the soul to take. Only when the right time comes, does death appear."

"Then tell me lord of death, is it my time?"

"Your time depends upon you. Your fate lies on whatever choice you're going to make at this instance."

_A choice_, Atalanta thought bitterly.

How unfair death can be. She once made a choice… A choice she still stood for until now. A choice of the man to love.

Then again, Thanatos never seized to be just a man. He was never a man. He existed neither to love nor to be loved by a mere human being. Yet what's inside of Atalanta contradicts every fact.

_I can never want anything. _How cruel the fates can be.

"Tell me, Thanatos," she murmured. "Why are you here?"

It did not surprise Atalanta that her unworldly companion continued to be wordless. He never really owed her any explanation; the perks of being a stupid god. It did not make things less frustrating for the demigod. For some reason, Thanatos was deemed unlike the others.

There ensued thousands of literatures written for these immortals, telling stories of what they did and who they were, revealing their very nature to the earth. Yet this soul reaper, whom history described as ruthless and emotionless when it comes to mortals and even others of his kind, confused Atalanta in so many ways. Every bit of circumstances that brought her and Thanatos together was unpredictable. The answer to why these all happened remained a mystery.

Nevertheless, Atalanta felt happy. She never feared death. In fact, she embraced it. That may have probably been what draws Hades' lieutenant to her even until this very hour. Her frequent search for this providence led to this mischief. But it turned to be a beautiful mischief.

And so, she can irrevocably say that she had lived life as best as she could or as she was required to do so. In this temporal world, she had but few beautiful memories. And these memories consisted mostly of her encounters with demise. So why linger in the living when she can find much happiness in the darkness? Darkness beyond the absence of her sight. Darkness wherein she won't experience any suffering or pain. Darkness near him, the only luminance in her existence.

Impossible was the word to describe the love between a mortal and _this _immortal. The assurance that such sentiment could have occurred seemed untrue it was almost blasphemous. And yes, Atalanta, the blind girl also had a blind heart. Yet she decided to endure this path anyway.

"Thank you," she smiled sadly.

Alas, Atalanta uttered her goodbye to the prison hell that had always restricted her. As she slowly raised her arms with her eyes closed, she bid farewell to every human being she had met that mattered. With all the love in her heart, she apologized to her parents and to her ancestors. She prayed to her grandparents to pass on her love to the two people who genuinely cared about her.

Gradually, the heaviness in her chest dispersed with tears falling from her eyes. With this came her acceptance to the invitation to let go of her humanity. Soon, she was one with the breeze, exhausting all of her except her soul.

_Finally,_ she thought contentedly. _Finally I'm at peace. _


	2. Please

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this except for the protagonist who happened to be created by my own imagination as well as the plot. I am merely divulging into the Olympian world of Rick Riordan's.

…

"Honey? Where are you?"

_Where else would I go? _Atalanta Jackson wondered as she moved her finger along the opened braille book.

"Tali? Are you in your room?"

Without responding, the seven-year old girl proceeded with her task. For someone who's visually impaired, Atalanta loved to read. That stood to be something she got from her mother. And when she's engrossed in one particular manuscript, it would be impossible to bring her out of the imaginative world she's currently in. This was one of those moments.

She heard steps fast approaching her path. There were two of them, she could tell. Her keen hearing never failed, a perk of being blind, if that could be considered as a positive thing for it's not a trait that she believed to be essential as some demigods' daughter.

The door burst open yet the golden-haired girl did not budge.

"There you are," Annabeth Chase Jackson declared.

Atalanta could tell that her lack of response annoyed her mother, though the older woman seemed to be trying to control her temper, probably to avoid embarrassing her child in front of their visitor.

"You told me not to go anywhere," she replied, matter-of-factly, facing the direction of the sound. "You shouldn't worry that a girl like me would be leaving her house, let alone her room. Lucky I'm blind, don't you think so?"

An uncomfortable hush swept over the area. Atalanta could sense her mother's heavy breathing. She could tell there's a mixture of pain, anger and frustration on her every breath. But she did not take anything back.

"Oh wow, Annabeth! She's a beauty!" the other companion exclaimed, attempting to shift the mood into a pleasant one.

Atalanta noticed the youthfulness on the other lady's voice. But there was something ancient in them, as if she's an aunt or something. In their little Greek/Roman ancestry world, no one can truly know.

"Beauty like a child of Aphrodite?"

Annabeth cleared her throat, completely ignoring the remark. "Tali, this is Aunt Thalia," she explained.

"Omit the aunt," Thalia laughed and the little girl felt the visitor lean towards her face. "Just call me Thalia, Tali. I'm sure there will come a time that you'll be older than me. So that does not apply anymore. Trust your mom to make me look old. But I'm sure we'll be very good friends, don't you think so?"

"You will never grow old?" Atalanta asked curiously.

"That's right, pretty girl. I vowed to never go out with boys unlike what your mom did and they rewarded me with immortality. Not only that but I also get to fly around with Artemis. So if you ever want the same thing, you know who to call."

"Thalia…" Atalanta heard her mom whispered as if to warn the immortal one.

"It doesn't matter, Thalia," the smallest voice spoke up calmly. "No boy would like a blind girl. And I think I would only be a drag to your adventures with Miss Artemis."

The two adults gasped at the words that came out of her mouth. Atalanta did not waver though. Shouldn't these adults know better by now?

With a shrug, Atalanta pulled her book closer and went back to reading. She did not need anybody's pity or fake cheerfulness to sugar coat their attempt to treat her like she was a normal kid. For someone who's blind, she could easily determine when she's being lied to just by the way people speak to her. Her mother and the perky un-aging girl were no exception.

"It was nice meeting you, Thalia. But if you don't mind, I would rather be alone."

In spite of the silence that retained, the shock was evident from the demigods. No one seemed to know how to retort to any of Atalanta's statements.

In an instant, Annabeth cleared her throat. "Tali, we will talk, okay? I will just accompany Thalia out and then we'll talk. Do you understand? You are not to leave this room," she told her daughter sternly, receiving no reaction from the unusual girl.

The adults left the room quietly. Even with the door already shut, Atalanta could still hear them talking about her. Obviously, they were worried, something that the visionless girl could not understand.

She had long accepted her worthlessness in this world. The fate had decided that she would never be her mommy's wise little child or her daddy's sea creature-talking kid. For all she knew, she must be adopted to not be bestowed with any magical power at all, whether how big or small, even considering the fact that one of the greatest combat strategist gave birth to a baby lacking the sense of sight. What an unfair setup not only for her but also for the people around her.

Her ears pricked up as Atalanta heard fast impending footsteps. The feeling of dread gradually dawned on her upon realizing her rudeness to her mother and to their visitor. There was no reason for her to act the way she did. But she did it anyway.

As soon as the doorknob was twisted, Atalanta's first reaction was to run away. Hurriedly, she stood up, went towards the open window and jumped.

Despite her lack of sight, she knew very well that it will take a bit more time before the impact. Then again, maybe when she would not even realize she had hit the road by then. Maybe, she would be dead by then.

"No, Thanatos!" she heard her mother scream.

_Don't worry, mommy. Everything will be okay now. I promise, _Atalanta swore to her heart as she fell from the very high building of their apartment, her pulse thumping yet without fear.

Unexpectedly, there came a flapping of wings and Atalanta was grabbed on her waist.

"What are you doing, little mistress?" a dreamlike voice spoke up.

Chill spread all over Atalanta's small, fragile physique. Whoever or whatever was holding her radiated with a powerful aura, making every cell of her body tremble. However, it was not of terror. For some reason, the god's presence gave her a remarkable thrilling emotion.

No sound came out from her dropped jaw, unable to believe that death had indeed came for her. Did that mean that it's over?

"Thanatos! I beg you to consider! Please!"

"Daddy?" Atalanta murmured.

"Please! You owe me. You know that, right? You owe us!"

True enough, the desperate voice from below came from Percy Jackson. How her father had instantly arrived at a time like this, Atalanta did not know. Needless to say, she did not care. But it just meant that no soul reaping had transpired yet. She's still very much alive.

_Don't listen to them, Mister Death. Please take me with you. _Atalanta prayed, tears started falling from her clouded eyes.

"Hmmm…" said the god, which resonated like singing to her ears. "The desire for death in your heart is so great, my lady. I've never seen a soul emit as much craving for…"

Thanatos's otherworldly voice trailed off in a thoughtful tone. With her eyes closed, the broken girl continued to pray, hoping and begging for the end. She never wanted something as much in her life.

To her horror, Atalanta felt them descending slowly. She would love to protest, to throw tantrums like a normal kid who was not getting what she wanted. Yet no sound or movement was produced from the troubled, little lady. The strong presence of the god weakened her, the thrill gone, replaced by a sudden soothing calm.

For some reason, Atalanta knew she was meant for him, she was meant for death. And maybe, just maybe, Thanatos can sense it too. After all, the perk of being a god was having the capability to see what can happen in the future. And the future with death was all what she can think and hope about to happen.


End file.
